"Lance Armstrong rode into history Sunday, winning a record sixth Tour de France and cementing his place as one of the greatest athletes of all time."

"Never in its 101-year history has the Tour had a winner like Armstrong — who just eight years ago was given less than a 50% chance of overcoming testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain." 7-04

"Lance Armstrong closed out his amazing career with a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory Sunday, and did it a little earlier than expected."

"His sixth win last year already set a record, putting Armstrong ahead of four other riders, Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Indurain, who all won five Tours."

"Armstrong's new record of seven wins confirmed him as one of the greatest cyclists ever, and capped a career where he came back from cancer to dominate cycling's most prestigious and taxing race." Visitors sometimes misspell as Toure DeFrance, deFrance, or De France. 6-05

"More than one million people poured into the streets across France and strikers disrupted air, rail and bus travel Tuesday — even shutting down the Eiffel Tower — in the largest nationwide protest in at least a quarter of a century over a youth labor law." 03-06

"If found guilty, the defendants would face fines and possible prison time. But a conviction would also allow French authorities to designate Scientology as a criminal organization conceived to fleece its followers, which would lead to the banning of the religion in France. That exceptional measure would force Scientology out of the country — or underground, along with outlawed practices like Satanism. Given that Scientology has 8 million members worldwide, that strikes some observers are [sic] extreme." 05-09

"The 96th Tour de France, which will run from July 4 to 26, will be contested over 2,174 miles. It begins with a time trial in Monaco and runs through France, with visits to Spain and Switzerland. It is a grueling test of endurance and strategy. Follow the New York Times's coverage of the race on this map, updated during the Tour with articles, photos and multimedia." 07-09

"The 96th edition of the Tour de France, cycling's biggest race, began Saturday, July 4, when the riders competed in the race's first stage, an individual time trial in Monaco. Twenty-two days later, a winner will ride down the Champs-Élysées in Paris wearing the iconic yellow jersey. Follow the race here with dispatches from The Times's Juliet Macur in France." 07-09

"Several decades have passed since the West stopped considering homosexuality a mental illness. But for transsexuals, this kind of milestone has been elusive — until now. Last month, France became the first country in the world to remove transsexualism from its official list of mental disorders — a major victory when it comes to acceptance of this oft-misunderstood condition." 03-10

"Most of the world now knows François Hollande as the man who won France’s May 6 presidential election, and in so doing made incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy the nation’s first single-term head of state in 31 years. Many people have also heard Hollande described as the 'anti-Sarkozy': a self-styled Monsieur Normal who prefers low-volume discussion, consensus and unassuming behavior to the driving, head-knocking, cleaving ways of Sarkozy’s 'bling-bling' presidency." 05-12

"The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency erased 14 years of Lance Armstrong's career Friday — including his record seven Tour de France titles — and banned him for life from the sport that made him a hero to millions of cancer survivors after concluding he used banned substances." 08-12